United States Bilateral Free Trade Agreements

Trade between the United States and the eighteen countries of the Middle East and North Africa continues to grow at a steady pace, particularly with those countries that have signed free trade agreements with the US. This insightful and timely book examines US bilateral free trade agreements with a cross section of Middle Eastern countries. Economists discuss this topic generally, but few published works focus on the consistency of US bilateral free trade agreements with the relevant legal norms in the Middle East, other regional agreements and the multilateral trading system. Four central questions are at the heart of this book's illuminating analysis: Are US bilateral free trade agreements consistent with international legal norms? Are these agreements consistent with Middle Eastern norms on regional integration? Are the agreements consistent with Islamic norms on trade liberalization? Are the agreements consistent with local norms on intellectual property, environmental protection and labour standards?